Hepburn's legacy

STYLE FILE

May 09, 1999|By ELIZABETH LARGE | ELIZABETH LARGE,SUN STAFF

Women in their 20s who have fallen in love with capri pants this spring probably don't know that a young actress made them fashionable almost 50 years ago. Her name was Audrey Hepburn, and her influence on 20th-century fashion was as noteworthy as her movie stardom.

"Audrey Style," a new book by Pamela Clarke Keogh (HarperCollins, $40), chronicles the development of the Hepburn Look with 100 photographs and designers' sketches. But the reminiscences from friends, designers and colleagues make this as much a loving biography as a fashion book.

Audrey Style was polished, simple and graceful. We have her to thank for gamine haircuts, turtlenecks, cinched waists, three-quarter-length sleeves, flat ballet slippers (she was embarrassed by her height), the slim, sleeveless dress and fitted shirts wrapped at the waist.

"She not only changed the way women dress," writes Keogh, "but forever altered the way they view themselves, broadening the definition of beauty and offering a worldly, unsubmissive and less blatantly sexual model."

New strides for sandals

The good thing about sandals this season? Anything goes -- from simple flat-soled slides to strappy slingbacks.

Pearly whites, iridescent plastics and leopard prints are among the choices. And even colored suedes are hits for spring.

No longer are sandals just meant for the beach, either. "They can go with anything -- jeans, shorts, skirts, even a nice summer dress," says Sarah Hill of J.C. Penney Co. Inc.

-- Cox News Service

Looking back in style

Stroll back in time and you'll find moments that changed style as it is known today. In a report in its current issue, W magazine offers highlights.

1990 to 1999

Fashion extremes go from grunge to deconstruction to slip dresses and casual Fridays.

Giorgio Armani recognizes that dresses worn to the Oscars can be a publicity bonanza. He is the first to "publicly dress" the stars, leading to the return of glamour in Hollywood.